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St Kilda comes alive in all its artistic glory

In celebration of local shopping strips everywhere, Acland Street will explode with art, music, theatre and comedy in the cheekily-named StripFest, held in the final week of August. While you won’t see people removing their clothes in the streets, what you will see is far more fascinating.

Overseeing the festivities as “Ambossador” is the patron saint of the safari suit, Mr Barry Morgan. The silliness will not stop with Barry: pro-comedian Janet McLeod will be bringing the laughs at Blue Corn Comedy.

There’ll be dancing in the streets; tap dancers of Miss Jane's Glamour Puss studio are offering a free tap workshop, DJ chicas Abbie Cardwell and Annemarie Blades of Mexicali Mammas will have you moving late into the night, and soundtrack-lovers will drool over the Tarantinos, as they play the most iconic music from Quentin’s cult classics.

There are tours of all kinds to choose from. Innātum Theatre’s Hansel and Gretel will lead you through Luna Park using puppets and theatre. Thrifty fashionistas from Melbourne Op Shop Tours will take you on a whirlwind tour through St Kilda’s vintage stores, and there’ll also be a behind-the-scenes tour of the majestic Palais Theatre. St Kilda’s fictional heritage will also be brought to life, as literary ladies of Sisters in Crime discuss crime novels set in St Kilda.

Don’t forget to keep your eyes and ears open: Sayraphim Lothian’s project For You, Stranger involves hand-made, fake cupcakes being hidden in secret places for you to take home, and graffiti artists yeok x david pereira x corinna berdntwill be painting their artwork around the place. iseemagicalcreatures will be installing their ethereal trash-treasure artworks into secret corners of the festival.

StripFest is a jam-packed reminder of the hidden magic behind the humble shopping strip, and we've only given you a taste of what's on offer. Download the programme and start planning your StripFest, as some of the events are ticketed.